It can be difficult for young single Latter-day Saint adults to feel a sense of belonging in their local congregations.

But it does not need to stay that way.

This was the advice Kristin Yee, second counselor in the presidency of the worldwide women’s Relief Society, offered Saturday to young single adults in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At the faith’s 2026 Utah Area YSA Conference, thousands of attendees, ages 18 to 35, flocked to the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City to hear religious messages, play games, attend concerts, perform service, and meet fellow members.

The 45-year-old Yee, who is single herself, assured her young listeners that while this can be a challenging stage of their lives, age should not be the defining factor.

She explained that the acronym YSA was a “demographic term” and should not limit how they see themselves.

“It’s not who you are,” she said, “not by a long shot. Nor is it who you truly belong to.”

She urged audience members to “keep going to church with the primary purpose of worshipping your Heavenly Father and Savior and receiving the sacred ordinance of the sacrament.”

While at those Sunday services, Yee counseled, look for “someone who needs a friend. As you minister and offer belonging to others, you will find it yourself.

“We’re all sisters and brothers, and we care for one another,” she added, “whether we’re 18 or 108.”

Seven truths

Yee also shared seven truths that she encouraged young Latter-day Saints to ponder:

• Explore the truth about who you really are: a child of God.

• Find belonging in “Zion.”

• Lose yourself to find yourself.

• Partner with Jesus Christ and know you are not alone.

• Feel God’s love in your lives.

• Participate in family history and temple work.

• Believe in Jesus.

Yee spoke at length about helping ancestors find belonging by pursuing family history research.

She shared a story about how she connected with a 102-year-old relative in China who donated her family’s genealogy records to a museum before he died.

Thanks to these records, Yee said, her family has since added 93 generations of the Yee family and thousands of names to her family tree.

“Family history,” Yee said, “is one of those unexpectedly powerful and unsuspectingly potent channels through which we can access the healing power of the Savior’s Atonement for ourselves and our families, if we will but offer our best efforts in faith, small as they may be.”

Missing the boat?

She acknowledged that the pursuit of family can have its challenges.

Last year, while on assignment at a conference, Yee recalled an interaction with a young woman who expressed to her that she feels like she “missed the boat” solely because she was not married.

Yee reminded her young single adult listeners that they “have not missed the boat” and are not “in a waiting queue” if they are living their covenants made in Latter-day Saint temples.

“As a sister who is not yet married,” she said, “I’ve learned and I’m forever grateful my Heavenly Father and Savior are with me, and will never leave me.”

And though Yee acknowledged that she doesn’t yet have all she planned for in life, she currently has lots of extra room in it for Jesus Christ and his love.

Note to readers • Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories.